PRINCESS Diana wished she had a 'normal life' after being thrust into the spotlight as a member of the Royal Family, her former bodyguard Ken Wharfe has revealed.

Mr Wharfe, Diana's personal protection officer from 1987 to 1993, said that Diana had repeatedly said she wished to get away from the spotlight, and that one of her catch phrases was "I want to be normal".

Speaking to Yahoo News' Royal Box, he said: "I started off with a brief to look after William and Harry.

"They're no different from any other child. Diana was always keen to bring some normality.

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Princess Diana married Prince Charles in July 1981 and divorced in 1996, after the Queen sent the couple a letter, advising them to end their relationship.

Despite Diana trying to create a more normal life for her children, Prince William and Prince Harry, Mr Wharfe said she could not escape her role as Princess of Wales, as she lead a luxurious life that was always in the public eye.

He explained how being part of the royal family was like "a piece of theatre", and that Diana was obliged to put up a "performance" for the press.

Mr Wharfe added: "Well it isn't normal to have X number of shifts, it isn't normal to have access to more than one palace to have these luxury holidays, specialised travel and a helicopter land in your backyard.

One of Princess Diana's catch phrases was 'I want to be normal', her former guard revealed (Image: GETTY)

"Being in the royal family is a piece of theatre, this is unreal - you are performing."

Prince William and his brother, Prince Harry are known to have a long-standing stance against press intrusion, blaming the paparazzi for their mother's death in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997.

Mr Wharfe recalls how the William was only three years old when he declared his dislike for intrusive photographers.

He said: "William's first day of school, Diana said to him in the car 'When we get to this school William, there's going to be lots of media, lots of photographers, you're going to have to behave yourself."

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Princess Diana tried to give her children, William and Harry, as much of a normal life as possible (Image: GETTY)

"William turned around and said something which was extraordinary, he said 'I don't like tographers.'

"He had this sort of almost hatred for photographers. Sadly this has carried through to the present day.

"He like his brother hold the death of his mother to the actions of certain sections of the media."

In 2017, William and Harry publicly spoke to the BBC about their mother's death on the 20th anniversary since Princess Diana was tragically killed in the Paris car crash.

Princess Diana married Prince Charles in July 1981 and divorced in 1996 (Image: GETTY)

Princess Diana died in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997 (Image: GETTY)

Prince Harry said: “I think one of the hardest things to come to terms with is the fact that the people that chased her into the tunnel were the same people that were taking photographs of her while she was still dying on the back seat of the car.

“She had quite a severe head injury but she was very much still alive on the back seat. And those people that caused the accident, instead of helping, they were taking photographs on the back seat, and then those photographs made their way back to news desks.”

Speaking previously of the incident, Ken Wharfe, Princess Diana's former bodyguard said: “Part of her problem in Paris was this desire by the gathering media circus for a picture.”